Water Birth

What is “water birth? “Water birth” is the use of a heated water bath or pool by a laboring woman during labor and birth.

Most people are drawn to water. After a hard day’s work, few things feel better than a soak in the tub. Likewise, in the midst of the summer months, few things are as refreshing as a cool swim. During pregnancy, labor and birth water becomes even more desirable, water soothes, relaxes and rejuvenates, providing women an easy way to unwind and let go.

During childbirth endorphins are released in your body which helps you feel less pain. However, anxiety can cause the release of adrenaline, which inhibits the effect of the endorphins. Adrenaline also inhibits the release of oxytocin, the hormone that causes uterine labor contractions, which means feeling anxious and nervous can not only make you feel more pain, but it can also make your contractions less effective. Getting into a soothing tub of water relaxes you and allows your body’s natural endorphins and oxytocin to kick in. Immediately, your contractions are less painful and more effective, which may account for why water births are proving to be shorter than traditional births.

On top of the internal relaxation effect is the topical effect of the warm water. It is supportive and surrounding. It buoys you up and cradles you in its warmth. It allows tight and tired muscles to relax fully, to release their tension and to be rejuvenated for the next contraction. The water also acts topically to soften the tissues of the perineum, making episiotomies much less necessary and causing fewer and less severe, tears.
The ease of the mother who labors and gives birth in water becomes the ease of the child who is born in the water. For the baby…the baby has been in amniotic water through pregnancy and being born in water is a gentle transition from the womb to your loving arms, water is familiar to the baby and helps him to feel more secure. The baby emerges into the water and is “caught” either by the mother herself or the birth attendant. In the water, the child has freedom of movement within familiar fluid surroundings. A baby’s limb’s can also unfold with greater ease during those first moments when he leaves his mother’s body and enters the water. The water offers a familiar comfort after birth, reassuring the child and allowing his bodily systems time to organize.

I love attending water births!!! Viewed as a whole, it is no mystery why water birth is growing so rapidly in popularity.

It offers so many benefits – less pain, shorter labors, a greater sense of relaxation, a greater sense of control, and, no negative side effects for the mother and baby.